Extraordinary Christmas Morning
by ArenynCai
Summary: Joanna wakes up on a Christmas morning to find a strange gift under her tree. When she finds out what's inside her life is changed forever! (or just for that day). Please R&R! Thank you! ^_^


A/N: Yay! Christmas is a few days away, 3 days away to be exact. And just for that occasion I have written a little story. A picture that I drew a few weeks ago inspired me to write this fic. So hope you like it.  
  
Disclaimer: Pippin belongs to JRR Tolkien. All the other characters belong to me (but they can be yours for 2 easy payments $19.99! ^_^ )  
  
  
  
Joanna woke up with a jolt early Christmas morning. She stared at the ceiling trying to remember what she has dreamt about that made her wake up like that. She remembered nothing but she had a strange feeling in the pit of her stomach, like the kind you get when you know something is not quite right. Joanna just shook her head and sat up to look at her clock. It was almost six. She groaned and fell back onto her bed. She tried several times to fall back asleep but couldn't.  
  
"I guess I'll go watch some TV until everyone else wakes up," she thought. Joanna got up to slip into her robe and slippers. She walked down to the living room and paused to look at the Christmas tree and all the gifts underneath it. She smiled as she remembered how she used to count her gifts and shake them to figure out what "Santa" had brought her when she was smaller. Joanna walked over to the tree and looked at her gifts. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a huge box that was waist-high covered in brown paper. It really stood out from the colorful, bright wrapped gifts surrounding it. The box had holes around the sides near the top, kind of like air holes. Joanna didn't remember anybody in her family asking for a pet of any kind, mainly because her mother disliked animals. She looked around for a tag, a card, anything to see whom the box was from but all she found was a piece of paper. On it was written, "Good riddance! (And Merry Christmas)" and on the bottom there was a symbol that looked like a backwards "Y" with an extra line branching out from the straight line. The symbol looked very familiar to Joanna but no matter how hard she tried to remember, her memory would give out.  
  
Joanna was growing more curious by the second. She tried to move the box but it was heavier than she expected. She tried to look through one of the holes but it was too dark to see inside. Quickly she ran to the kitchen to get a small flashlight from a drawer and ran back to the box. She shined the light in one of the holes. From inside came a small groan. Joanna jumped back landing on her bottom. Wide-eyed and shaking, she shined the light again through the hole. Again there was a groan from inside the box.  
  
"Holy crap! There's someone in there!" exclaimed Joanna. Then she finally remembered where she had seen that symbol! It was from the Lord of the Rings. That symbol was Gandalf's signature! "Can it be," she whispered. Quickly but as quietly as she can, Joanna unwrapped and opened the box. Much to her amazement inside was a hobbit! But not just any hobbit-it was-  
  
"Pippin!" Joanna stared at the poor hobbit, gagged and bound at the hands. He looked quite angry and slightly confused. He shouted something muffled up to Joanna, which snapped her out of her shock. She reached down to help Pippin up and out of the box. She untied his hands and took off the gag. "How did you get here?" asked Joanna.  
  
"Ooh, I'm going to kill that wizard!" shouted Pippin, completely ignoring Joanna's question. He paced back and forth letting out angry outbursts. "Who does he think he is, treating hobbits like that?! I'll teach 'im! He'll learn to never mess with THIS Took! I'll-who are you?" He looked over at Joanna.  
  
"I-my name's Joanna," she responded, still quite confused. Pippin hastily shook her hand with a smile then got back to his outbursts. Joanna slowly sat down on the floor holding her head. She was still trying to figure out how exactly Pippin got there. She closed her eyes trying to think but that was impossible with all the rambling coming from Pippin in the background.  
  
"This would be a really bad time for Mom and Dad to wake up," she thought. She then realized how loud Pippin was so she grabbed him by the shoulders and put her hand over his mouth. She made a sign to him to be quiet. Pippin tilted his head and raised his eyebrow. Joanna led him to the couch and motioned for him to sit down then sat down next to him.  
  
She took in a deep breath. "Are you from Middle-earth?"  
  
"Aye.." answered Pippin, eyebrow still raised.  
  
"From the Shire?"  
  
"Aye.."  
  
"Are you..Pippin Took?"  
  
"Aye..have we met before?"  
  
Joanna groaned and put her head between her hands. "Not exactly."  
  
"Then how do you know so much about me?"  
  
Joanna was not too prepared to answer this question so she just said whatever first popped into her mind. "Because..you're the most popular Took around." Pippin smiled. He sat up to straighten his coat and he ran his fingers through his hair.  
  
"Well I always knew I was quite a charming hobbit but never THAT charming. What else do they say about me?" Joanna laughed with her head still between her hands.  
  
"What is the hour, Miss Joanna?" asked Pippin. Joanna looked at the clock on the wall. It was almost 8, around the time that her parents usually wake up.  
  
"Oh my gosh!" Joanna jumped up, startling Pippin. She looked around at the mess she made freeing Pippin. "What am I going to do," she hyperventilated. "How am I going to explain HIM if they find him out ?!" Quickly Joanna tried to get rid of the box and paper by taking it outside and by the curb. She came back in shivering from the cold.  
  
"Excuse me, I don't know if this is the right time to ask but..can I have a bit o' breakfast? I haven't eaten anything in hours!" said Pippin oblivious to the state of panic Joanna was in. Joanna let out something between an exasperated sigh and a growl. Pippin drew back. "Did I say something wrong?"  
  
"No! I mean..oh!" Joanna grabbed Pippin's hand and rushed to her room. Luckily for her, her parents were still in their bedroom with the door shut. Once they were in Joanna's room, Pippin sat on her bed to catch his breath.  
  
"Now, Miss Joanna, shouldn't we get better acquainted first before we make such a big step? I mean, well..you seem nice? and you're pretty.very pretty in fact, but that's besides the point. I-," He was cut off quickly again by Joanna's hand over his mouth.  
  
"That is not why I brought you here. I don't mean to sound rude but will you kindly shut up for a minute and let me think?" Pippin nodded and she took her hand away. While Joanna was pacing back and forth, Pippin swung his legs so that he could lie on the bed.  
  
"Mm..nice and comfy!" He stretched out his legs. "And big!" It was only a twin-sized bed but it must seem like a queen-sized to a hobbit, especially to one of Pippin's stature. At that moment, Joanna's telephone rang. She quickly picked it up so that her parents wouldn't hear it. Pippin paid no heed to the odd, foreign sound. He was having too much fun trying to see how high he could jump on the bed.  
  
"Hello," Joanna said into the mouthpiece.  
  
"Jo, you will not BELIEVE me when I tell you what I got for Christmas!" The voice on the other end of the telephone was Joanna's best friend, Kathy.  
  
"Oh, I'll believe anything after this morning." Joanna looked over at Pippin. She grabbed him in mid-jump and sat him down on the bed. Pippin crossed his arms and pouted. Joanna shook her head and smiled before she continued talking to Kathy.  
  
"Okay, well, you won't believe this! You got to come over as soon as possible!" said Kathy.  
  
Joanna glanced at her clock. It was about 8:30. "I'll be there at 9:30, ok?"  
  
"Okay, great. See you then. Bye!"  
  
"Bye." Joanna hung up the telephone. She glanced at Pippin who gave her a grin. She smiled back. "Listen, I'm sorry if I've been a little rough on you. Today's just been.very out of the ordinary." She offered her hand to Pippin who shook it warmly.  
  
"Oh, it's alright, Miss Joanna! Actually I'm used to it. My older cousin is always like that whenever he thinks I'm acting up."  
  
"Merry?"  
  
"Yeah! Do you know him?" he asked with his hands on his hips.  
  
"No. I just thought that would be his name. It's a very common name for cousins..around here."  
  
"Oh." He looked disappointed. Joanna got up from the bed and was about the head towards the door but Pippin jumped off the bed and grabbed her by the hand. "Where are you going?"  
  
"I have to go really quick but I'll be back soon. Now, listen, you have to stay here. Don't go out of this room. It's for your own good," she added after seeing a worried look in Pippin's eyes. "Understand?"  
  
"Yes." Joanna was about to head out the room again but Pippin stopped her again.  
  
"What is it?"  
  
"What about breakfast?"  
  
Joanna laughed and ruffled his hair. "Alright you'll get your breakfast, but don't expect a feast, maybe some toast and an apple. Anything more would seem suspicious."  
  
"Oh well that's going to have to do, at least until afternoon tea. Thank you, Miss Joanna!"  
  
"No problem ("yeah right", she thought). Now please stay in this room." Pippin nodded and ran back to the bed. "And try not to make so much noise when jumping on my bed." Pippin saluted before Joanna left the room. She walked down the hallway and into the living room where her parents were waiting for her.  
  
"Merry Christmas," they greeted her.  
  
"Merry Christmas." She hugged them and sat back down on the couch while her parents gathered their gifts. "This is going to be a looong day," she mumbled.  
  
  
  
A/N: You like-a the story? The story is good, eh? I'll get you more story! Please review! Thank you! ^_^ 


End file.
